Not. Applicable.
Not Applicable
Many businesses, including farming businesses, store vehicles, tractors, trucks and other vehicular equipment in utility buildings which are commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cpolexe2x80x9d buildings. This type of building usually is constructed with a metal exterior supported on peripheral internal posts and generally this type of building features a large sliding door which is suspended at its top from a track over the door opening. In order to prevent the bottom of such a sliding door from swinging, it is common practice to embed a door stop in the floor or ground surface in alignment with the sliding door to capture its bottom edge. A typical sliding door is equipped with an open channel at its bottom which receives an upstanding blade of the door stop. The blade stands above the surface of the floor or ground and may be struck by the tires of vehicles entering and leaving the building. Unfortunately, tire damage may occur when vehicle tires pass over the immoveable door stop.
The present invention provides a door stop for a sliding door which retracts when force is applied to it in a downward direction. It is an object of this invention to provide a door stop for a sliding door which reduces the risk of damage to vehicle tires when the tires roll over the door stop.
A vertically oriented housing with an open interior, an open top and a closed bottom receives a coil spring oriented vertically therein. A top block member is receivable in the top of the housing and is vertically slidable within the housing. The top block is supported upon the upper end of the coil spring such that the upper surface of the top block rests at a position in horizontal alignment with the upper end of the housing. A door guide is fixed to the upper surface of the top block such that it extends upward. The door guide may be an elongate T-shaped rail or other upright bracket which captures the bottom of the sliding door. When the top block is at rest, the door guide extends above the upper end of the housing. The housing may be installed in an opening in the ground in the doorway of the building on which the sliding door is slidable such that the lower channel of the sliding door will receive the door guide as the door slides over the door guide. In the preferred embodiment, the housing is provided with a short rod standing upright in the center of the bottom of the housing. The short rod receives the lower end of the coil spring. The top block has a hollow interior below its upper wall in which a stub of pipe or rod may be mounted, to be in axial alignment with the short rod in the housing when the top block is received in the housing. The upper end of the coil spring may be slid over the pipe stub of the top block. The bottom of the housing may have openings therein to allow water within the housing to escape. The lower surface of the bottom of the housing has a pair of downwardly extending blades which are spaced apart to receive the end of a square post which may be mounted to the bottom end of the housing to provide a base for the housing when it is received in a post hole created to receive it.
By proper installation, the top of the housing will be flush with the floor or ground surface in which it is received. Therefore when at rest, the door guide will extend above the floor or ground surface when the top block is resting on the relaxed coil spring within the housing. When the tire of a vehicle entering or leaving the building strikes the door guide, the door guide will retract from the weight of the vehicle and will compress the coil spring, thereby creating less damaging force on the tire.
In an alternate embodiment, the housing is equipped with outwardly extending rod stock such as concrete reinforcing rods, to provide additional structure to retain the housing in a supporting mass of portland cement mix or other concrete material.
It is an object of the invention to provide a sliding door guide for a utility building into which vehicles will be moved.
It is another object of the invention to provide a door guide which is received by the lower channel of a suspended sliding door.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from examination of the description and claims which follow.